During this week’s Sonic Central stream, Sega and its partners teased several partnerships, frommerch to a Topgolf game, Sonic the Hedgehog is getting around. But perhaps the most exciting among these collaborations is the upcoming one with DC Comics, which was first teased with a brief animated clip of Sonic’s rival Shadow dressed in Batman’s garb and fighting criminals in Gotham on September 21. Well, it turns out this wasn’t just a tribute to the caped crusader on Batman Day, but a tease for a long-standing collaboration between Sonic and the comic book company.
Late in the showcase, Sega’s chief brand & business officer for the Sonic series Ivo Gerscovich revealed the collaboration will include a five-issue comic series that will roll out monthly starting in March 2025. The comics will be written by Ian Flynn, who leads the ongoing Sonic IDW comics and was also a writer on Sonic Frontiers, andwill show several Sonic characters portraying different DC superheroes. Gerscovich said Sonic, Shadow, and the rest of the cast will be teaming up with the Justice League while also dressing as them, so it doesn’t sound like Sonic and friends are taking the place of the DC heroes. Maybe each comic will show Sonic characters working alongside the superheroes and learning a thing or two. God knows Shadow and Batman could bond over grief and their attempts to make the world a better place to honor someone they’ve lost.
While Shadow as Batman was the first crossover teased, Gerscovich revealed several other characters who will be donning a superhero costume in the comics next year. Let’s go down the list.
Looking at the list, a few of these collaborations are natural fits. Putting Shadow, the dark, brooding hedgehog as Batman is one of those crossovers that just makes sense. One notable part of Shadow’s Batman design is that his red stripes have been recolored to a gray similar to the hero’s costume. He still has his iconic, rocket-powered jet shoes on top of the cape and utility belt, but they have also been recolored to give him a uniform, night-appropriate look.
While you might expect Sonic to wear the Superman cape and tights as an optimistic juxtaposition for Shadow as Batman’s brooding nature, Knuckles as Superman makes a ton of sense. The echidna has been characterized by his strength over the years and can glide just like Superman flies. The design looks like a much more straightforward redesign than Shadow’s, mostly just putting Knuckles into the suit without a ton of notable changes. He does keep his sneakers, however, which are now a solid red, without the yellow mid-sections.
Amy’s Wonder Woman design marries her silhouette with the hero’s maximalist iconography and palette. She keeps the dress she’s known for, albeit colored with the red, blue, and gold theme synonymous with the Amazonian hero. The skirt is adorned with stars and the “WW” logo is spread across the top. Her hammer also has the hero’s logo on it, which I’m glad to see is still here as opposed to replacing her iconic weapon with Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth. There’s already so much of Wonder Woman in this design, so it’s good to see part of Amy’s personality still shining through. In place of her own hairband, Amy now wears a gold one with a red star in the center much like Wonder Woman’s, and dons a red cape with a golden trim. It’s definitely one of the busier designs of the bunch, but Amy’s never been one to do something halfway.
Again, this is one of those that just makes sense when you hear it. The blue blur’s gotta go fast, so he’s naturally going to be cosplaying as DC Comics’ speedster. All things considered, Sonic’s Flash costume is pretty tame. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think he was just a fan’s red hedgehog OC. Every inch of his blue fur has been covered with a red costume with gold lightning bolts etched into the material. He also has little lightning bolts next to his ears to represent Flash’s “wings” seen on his mask in most modern depictions.
This combination also makes sense, but it is probably the least remarkable of the designs. Silver’s psychic powers are a hop and skip away from using a powerful ring to create anything you can imagine, so he’s a solid fit to wear a Power Ring and join the Green Lantern Corps. But yeah, he’s got the green torso piece with the logo on his chest and black spandex on his arms and legs, but there’s not much else to this. Glad to see Silver getting some love, though.
Rounding out the cast is Tails as Cyborg. This one might seem out of left field at a glance, but it makes sense given that he’s the most technically knowledgeable of the group. He’s also already been an android in the Sonic Prime animated show, so fans are probably used to seeing him with a robotic body. He’s shown with most of his body having been replaced with mechanical parts with the exception of half of his face and his two tails. His left hand is a four-fingered claw, but Cyborg is able to transform parts of his body, so we’ll likely see Tails’ extremities take different forms in the comics.
The Sonic X DC collaboration will also include merchandise (clothes, toys, collectibles, etc.) that will be released in the fall of 2025. While Gerscovich didn’t get into specifics, Sega and DC plan to continue the crossover into 2026, but it’s unclear if that means more comics, merchandise, or perhaps something not mentioned during the presentation. The animated teaser sends the mind wandering about a possible animated miniseries or something along those lines. But in the meantime, Sonic fans are already getting an animated miniseries in the form of Sonic X Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings, which will follow Shadow the Hedgehog’s origin story. The first episode is set to go live today, September 25.